As of April 2020, the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has affected, in some way, the living arrangements of around a third of healthcare professionals in the United Kingdom (UK). 12 percent of healthcare professionals still live in their home, but avoid contact with other members of their household, while three percent have had another member of the household live away from home due to coronavirus.

The latest number of cases in the UK can be found here. For further information about the coronavirus pandemic, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.

In April 2020, a survey of healthcare workers in the United Kingdom (UK) found that majority are worried about their personal health as well as the health of those they live with during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. 28 percent of healthcare workers reported to be very worried about their personal health, while 37 percent were very worried about the health of those in their household.

The latest number of cases in the UK can be found here. For further information about the coronavirus pandemic, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.

Bilingual (EN-UK) COVID-19-related corpus acquired from the portal (https://www.gov.pl/) of the Polish Government (8th May 2020)

According to a survey run between April and May 2020 in the United Kingdom and Ireland, a majority of audiences would feel comfortable going to an event again if a limit on the number of attendees was imposed and they didn't have to stand in long queues. Roughly 66 percent also claimed they would feel safe attending if seats were spaced at least 2 meters apart, while nearly 59 percent would like hand sanitizer to be provided.

According to a survey carried out in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2020, there were significant negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown on access to treatment services (for example, hospital appointments) for people living with eye conditions. Almost 50 percent of respondents who were suffering from glaucoma reported that access to treatment services had become a lot worse, while 37 percent advised that access had become somewhat worse.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination rates among adults who live in England, including estimates by socio-demographic characteristic and Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) 2020

After a majority of events were cancelled in 2020 due to the Coronavirus lockdown, audiences in the United Kingdom and Ireland were asked what would influence their decision to book for future events. A majority at 80.7 percent said they felt that the ability to receive a full refund should the event be cancelled would influence their future purchases. 74.16 and 73.25 percent wanted the flexibility to either exchange tickets for another event, or receive credit to be used on future events if they were unable to attend.

Bilingual (EN-UK) corpus acquired from Wikipedia on health and COVID-19 domain (2nd May 2020)

First, second, third dose and booster COVID-19 vaccination rates among people aged 50 years and older who live in England, including estimates by socio-demographic characteristic.

This project adopts two main research instruments - two online questionnaires (2 surveys of circa 1400 UK ‘new’ homeworkers each, June-July 2020 & Dec-February 2021). The second instrument is a series of semi-structed interviews (4 x Interviews with 80 ‘new’ homeworkers across UK, May 2020 – July 2021).

The COVID-19 outbreak has forced companies to embrace home-based working (HBW) at such speed that they have had little opportunity to consider the impact on their workers. It can be argued that the crisis has led to the most significant, intensive social experiment of digital, HBW that has ever occurred. The current situation, which involves the whole household being based at home, is an unprecedented challenge which may be at least an intermittent fixture, for the next eighteen months (BBC Futures, 25/03/20).

The press have suggested that this revolution might also offer an opportunity for many companies to finally build a culture that allows long-overdue work flexibility ... many employees for companies who have sent all staff home are already starting to question why they had to go into the office in the first place (The Guardian, 13/02/20). These optimistic takes on the current patterns of work focus on HBW's emancipatory potential, offering flexibility, the lubrication of work and family responsibilities and the promise of increased productivity. Yet, this new world order, where the home becomes a multi-occupational, multi-person workplace and school, not only challenges boundaries but also conceptions of the domestic space.

The impact of homeworking is likely to present significant variation depending on organisational support, the worker's role, socio-economic status, employment status, as well as household composition and size of living space. There are significant concerns regarding intensified HBW, including poor work-life balance, enhanced domestic tensions and disproportionately negative impacts on those in lower socio-economic groupings. Moreover, HBW increases the proportion of time women (most often) spend on housework and childcare, reproducing and reinforcing gender roles within the new 'work-space'

We will examine in-depth this radical shift in working arrangements and how it impacts on the wellbeing and productivity of workers and their households. Using a combination of in-depth interviews with sixty participants, representing the spectrum of this novel group of homeworkers, as well as a large-scale survey, this project (Working@Home) will provide unrivalled insights into the experience of home-working for the UK population and will serve as a permanent record of the lives of citizens in this unprecedented time.

The research will be key in understanding the expectations that organisations have placed on workers, as well as the robustness of support systems that have been put in place, taking into account the rapid advancement of home working systems with almost no preparation and only limited existing support structures or expertise. The findings will provide a benchmark for the resilience of both individuals and businesses and demonstrate the potential for the robustness of the infrastructure in the return to a 'new normal' after the crisis.

In order to ensure that the findings from the project are accessible to all, we are developing a website (workingathome.org.uk) that will host up to date information on the progress of the project, details of the project team, guidance for participants as well as information regarding our webinar series. The project aims to produce guidance to individuals, organisations and policy makers on how to best manage the ongoing medical emergency from a home-working perspective as well as providing guidance for any future pandemic scenario.

IntroductionThe key to understanding the COVID-19 correlates of protection is assessing vaccine-induced immunity in different demographic groups. Young people are at a lower risk of COVID-19 mortality, females are at a lower risk than males, and females often generate stronger immune responses to vaccination.MethodsWe studied immune responses to two doses of BNT162b2 Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in an adolescent cohort (n = 34, ages 12–16), an age group previously shown to elicit significantly greater immune responses to the same vaccine than young adults. Adolescents were studied with the aim of comparing their response to BNT162b2 to that of adults; and to assess the impacts of other factors such as sex, ongoing SARS–CoV–2 infection in schools, and prior exposure to endemic coronaviruses that circulate at high levels in young people. At the same time, we were able to evaluate immune responses to the co-administered live attenuated influenza vaccine. Blood samples from 34 adolescents taken before and after vaccination with COVID-19 and influenza vaccines were assayed for SARS–CoV–2-specific IgG and neutralising antibodies and cellular immunity specific for SARS–CoV–2 and endemic betacoronaviruses. The IgG targeting influenza lineages contained in the influenza vaccine were also assessed.ResultsRobust neutralising responses were identified in previously infected adolescents after one dose, and two doses were required in infection-naïve adolescents. As previously demonstrated, total IgG responses to SARS–CoV-2 Spike were significantly higher among vaccinated adolescents than among adults (aged 32–52) who received the BNT162b2 vaccine (comparing infection-naïve, 49,696 vs. 33,339; p = 0.03; comparing SARS-CoV–2 previously infected, 743,691 vs. 269,985; p

Vaccination rates and odds ratios by socio-demographic group among people living in England.

Age-standardised mortality rates for deaths involving coronavirus (COVID-19), non-COVID-19 deaths and all deaths by vaccination status, broken down by age group.

Objectives: As the initial crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic recedes, healthcare decision makers are likely to want to make rational evidence-guided choices between the many interventions now available. We sought to update a systematic review to provide an up-to-date summary of the cost-effectiveness evidence regarding tests for SARS-CoV-2 and treatments for COVID-19.Methods: Key databases, including MEDLINE, EconLit and Embase, were searched on 3 July 2023, 2 years on from the first iteration of this review in July 2021. We also examined health technology assessment (HTA) reports and the citations of included studies and reviews. Peer-reviewed studies reporting full health economic evaluations of tests or treatments in English were included. Studies were quality assessed using an established checklist, and those with very serious limitations were excluded. Data from included studies were extracted into predefined tables.Results: The database search identified 8,287 unique records, of which 54 full texts were reviewed, 28 proceeded for quality assessment, and 15 were included. Three further studies were included through HTA sources and citation checking. Of the 18 studies ultimately included, 17 evaluated treatments including corticosteroids, antivirals and immunotherapies. In most studies, the comparator was standard care. Two studies in lower-income settings evaluated the cost effectiveness of rapid antigen tests and critical care provision. There were 17 modelling analyses and 1 trial-based evaluation.Conclusion: A large number of economic evaluations of interventions for COVID-19 have been published since July 2021. Their findings can help decision makers to prioritise between competing interventions, such as the repurposed antivirals and immunotherapies now available to treat COVID-19. However, some evidence gaps remain present, including head-to-head analyses, disease-specific utility values, and consideration of different disease variants.Systematic Review Registration: [https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42021272219], identifier [PROSPERO 2021 CRD42021272219].

Bilingual (EN-UK) corpus acquired from the website (https://udsc.gov.pl/) of the Polish Office for Foreigners

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, telemedicine had not reached its full potential in the US, with several barriers preventing its widespread uptake, including reimbursement and access issues, lack of awareness, resistance to change, preference for in-person care, and technical and connectivity issues. It is widely anticipated that COVID-19 may be the tipping point for telemedicine as the full potential of the technology is increasingly realized by patients, healthcare systems, and payers. As a result of the pandemic, regulations and policies governing reimbursement and use of telemedicine have changed significantly, leading to expanded access and an unprecedented demand for these services. The report assesses the use of live videoconferencing technologies, which allow the provision of on-demand, virtual, outpatient care during the COVID-19 pandemic as a result of social distancing and lockdown measures.- Read More